Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Socrates : A Man for Our Times - Paul Johnson
eTextbook alternate format product

Instant online reading.
Don't wait for delivery!

Go digital and save!

Socrates

A Man for Our Times

By: Paul Johnson

Paperback | 30 January 2013 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $35.00

$32.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $8.19 with

 or 

Ships in 25 to 30 business days

"Spectacular . . . A delight to read."
-The Wall Street Journal

From bestselling biographer and historian Paul Johnson, a brilliant portrait of Socrates, the founding father of philosophy

In his highly acclaimed style, historian Paul Johnson masterfully disentangles centuries of scarce sources to offer a riveting account of Socrates, who is often hailed as the most important thinker of all time. Johnson provides a compelling picture of Athens in the fifth century BCE, and of the people Socrates reciprocally delighted in, as well as many enlightening and intimate analyses of specific aspects of his personality. Enchantingly portraying "the sheer power of Socrates's mind, and its unique combination of steel, subtlety, and frivolity," Paul Johnson captures the vast and intriguing life of a man who did nothing less than supply the basic apparatus of the human mind.

"Spectacular . . . A delight to read."
-The Wall Street Journal

From bestselling biographer and historian Paul Johnson, a brilliant portrait of Socrates, the founding father of philosophy

In his highly acclaimed style, historian Paul Johnson masterfully disentangles centuries of scarce sources to offer a riveting account of Socrates, who is often hailed as the most important thinker of all time. Johnson provides a compelling picture of Athens in the fifth century BCE, and of the people Socrates reciprocally delighted in, as well as many enlightening and intimate analyses of specific aspects of his personality. Enchantingly portraying "the sheer power of Socrates's mind, and its unique combination of steel, subtlety, and frivolity," Paul Johnson captures the vast and intriguing life of a man who did nothing less than supply the basic apparatus of the human mind.
Industry Reviews
Praise for Socrates by Paul Johnson:

"An admirably concise view of a remarkable life whose influence remains central to the foundations of Western thought."
--Publishers Weekly

"[Johnson's] genuine love of the demos makes him an all-too-rare figure in today's chattering classes."
--First Things

"Johnson writes more concisely than most scholars and brings to his prose a wealth of anecdote and asides unknown to most academics. His Socrates comes alive not through arguments over Platonic dating or Pythagorean influence, but by wit and allusion to Jane Austen novels, Samuel Johnson, John Maynard Keynes, firsthand remembrances of Winston Churchill's speeches and Richard Dawkins. A valuable overview."
--Washington Times

"Robust."
--The New Republic

"With effortless erudition, Paul Johnson brings to life the world of the great philosopher."
--Women's Wear Daily

"A succinct, useful exploration of life in ancient Athens and of the great philosopher's essential beliefs."
--Kirkus Reviews

"A wonderfully readable account of life in Athens, its political quarrels, and its failures. As good as a murder mystery, Johnson's narrative is exciting."
--Library Journal

"Enlightening.... Johnson disentangles centuries of scarce and questionable sources to offer a riveting account of a homely but charismatic middle-class man whose ideas still shape the way we decide how to act, and how we fathom the notion of body and soul."
--History Book Club

"Johnson is an accomplished historian and writer with a fluid, unpretentious style and an honest voice. These gifts, which have made his 12 previous books enjoyable and popular, are no less evident in Socrates."
--The Washington Independent Review of Books

"This snappy biography goes down easy while offering a full portrait of Socrates--the man, the thinker, the celebrity--and the world he lived in."
--Zocalo Public Square

"Spectacular...a delight to read."
--The Wall Street Journal

More in Ethical Issues of Scientific & Technological Developments

Against the Machine : On the Unmaking of Humanity - Paul Kingsnorth

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
Invisible Women : Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men - Caroline Criado Perez
Calling Bullshit : The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World - Carl T. Bergstrom
The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan
As If Human : Ethics and Artificial Intelligence - Nigel Shadbolt

RRP $26.95

$22.99

15%
OFF
MoneyGPT : AI and the Threat to the Global Economy - James Rickards
Filterworld : How Algorithms Flattened Culture - Kyle Chayka

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Vaxxers : A Pioneering Moment in Scientific History - Sarah Gilbert
Genetic Testing : Health and Medical Issues Today - Sarah Boslaugh